Mercedes EQE long-term test

The car Mercedes EQE 300 Sport Edition Run by Neil Winn, Deputy Reviews Editor

Why it’s here To see if Mercedes’ premium electric executive car can excel as a long-distance tourer and justify its price premium over cheaper rivals

Needs to Combine outstanding comfort and refinement with a class-leading real-world range

Miles covered 4829 List price £68,810 Target Price £64,810 Price as tested £69,505 Official range 380 miles Test range 280 miles

29 April 2024 – Long-distance champion

If there is one day that everyone looks forward to in the WhatCar? office it is our bi-annual ‘Range Test’ where we drive a range of electric cars from full until fully empty to find out how far they’ll go under real-world conditions. 

Now, I'll admit, the notion of circling endlessly on a closed circuit might not sound exciting at first. But without fail, everyone ends up having a blast. Perhaps it's because every member of the office, not just road testers, gets to experience the latest vehicles firsthand. Or maybe it's the oddly satisfying feeling of pushing a car until it drops – like sneaking in some extra playtime past bedtime as a child. It feels a bit rebellious.

However, my enjoyment of our most recent range test stemmed from a different source. This time, there was a palpable sense of competition in the air. Sure, my EQE boasts an impressive claimed range of 380 miles, but it falls slightly short of the more affordable Tesla Model 3 Long Range (390 miles) and Volkswagen ID 7 (383 miles). And though the BMW i5 eDrive40 lags further behind with a claimed 338 miles, BMWs have historically proven to be surprisingly efficient performers.

On the day in question, the weather was surprisingly warm for a ‘winter’ range test, with the mercury hovering around 6-10°C. But even with this environmental advantage, the BMW performed worse than we expected, returning a rather inefficient 3.1 miles/kWh. The look on Editor Steve Huntingford’s face when his long-termer ground to a halt after just 253 miles was palpable. I couldn’t help but remind him that I once drove his long-term BMW 520d from London to Chamonix on a single tank. Oh, how times have changed…

Also disappointing was the new ID 7. Despite delivering a plush ride, spacious interior, and reasonable list price (even with a rather expensive £1050 heat pump fitted, it undercuts the EQE by a not-insubstantial £16,905), it fell down when it came to efficiency, returning 3.5m/kWh, giving it a total real-world range of 268 miles. If you’re reading this and thinking, well, that’s not too bad, remember that is still a near 30% shortfall compared to the car’s claimed range.

This set the stage for the EQE and Model 3 Long Range to compete for overall honours, and the result was closer than we expected. Despite their vastly different prices and battery sizes (89.0 kWh vs 75.0 kWh), the gap was merely seven miles at the end, with the Tesla stopping after 293 miles and the Mercedes hitting exactly 300 miles. So, did ‘my’ EQE win?

Well, technically, yes. And I did feel rather smug at the end of the day. However, when you consider that the EQE has a 19% bigger battery than the Model 3, costs nearly £20,000 more, and was less efficient (3.4 m/kWh vs 3.9 m/kWh), perhaps such a small margin of victory is not so spectacular.

Hence why I’ve lined up an interview with an engineer at Mercedes to discuss the topic of efficiency and range. With the brand’s beautiful-looking EQXX concept implementing 900-volt technology, aluminium construction, solar panels, and air-cooled batteries, I want to know if we can expect this sort of tech on a road-going model. It should be an interesting chat, but I also want to give you the opportunity to have your questions answered, no matter how geeky. So, fire me an email at neil.winn@haymarket.com and let me know what you topics you would like me to cover.

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